A DYING INDUSTRY.

Lake County Press, Issue 1065, 21 May 1903, Page 3

A DYING INDUSTRY.

i Some time back, the Imperial Gov- ) ' ernment despatched an officer to i New Zealand and Australia to aacer- ; ', tain our resources in the matter of ' j horse supply for army requirements. Theretofore, the War Office had to ■ I rely upon foreign resources ; notably, j of late, upon the United State*. Ap- • art from the circumstance that this • i was a resource which, under inter- • national complications, might fail at I a most critical time, the authorities - were doubtless affected by the spirit i ! that had been called forth by the ' cordial cooperation of these countr--1 ! ics in the recent Transvaal trouble. 1 i It was felt no doubt, that the ' | large sum of money annually spent ' '' by the War Office in the purchase of 1 j army mounts, should, if possible, find its way into the pockets of kins- - ! folk, rather than into the hands of 1 j alien nations. This circumstance ' emphasizes the regret which must 1 follow the unfavourable report of the expert sent out to discover our value ' as horse producing countries. 1 The officer referred to has stated that, as producers of good, sound 1 horses suitable for cavalry and artil- ' lery purposes, these countries, once • in the front rank, have no claim up--1 on the attention of the Imperial Gov- " eminent. The quality of horse flesh, > it appears, now produced here will ' not compare with that supplied by 1 foreign bleeders. Unless strenuous 1 efforts be made at once to recover ■ the position once held, we shall be outstripped in the race by the comi petition of American, Hungarian and other foreign breeders. For a long • time to come we shall not be able to i count upon the industry as of any ' real value. All this is lamentable ; the more so, that the disaster has • arisen in the crass neglect of our ' several Governments to so regulate the exportation of horse stock, as to • ensure that the best blood be not I absolutely lost to us. For example, during the Boer war, among the horses sent to South Africa were some of the best mares in 1 these States. Everybody who knows anything about horse breeding is ■ aware of the importance of securing good dams for the purpose. The : Arabs know this so well that no money can purchase a pure bred I mare from them ; while they put no ' j such value upon sires. This is one lof the reasons why Australia and • I New Zealand have lost, their old ; [ position as producers of first class 1 | horse stock. • | Shippers to the Indian market • know very well that, for years these I countries have been losing their best ! brood stock by exportation to India I and this fact, followed up by the de- • j mand from South Africa, largely ex- | plains why it is that at present we hold no position as producers of good sound horses. The position illustrates, in its way ' | the curious circumstance that, with j all our self complacency we are singularly deficient in that business fore--1 thought, such as years ago directed the attention of breeders in the Unii ted States to the production of first class horse stock to meet foreign dej mands. We have been content to j sell our best mares whenever a good j price has been offered. The result, as at present is, that we possess few J horses worth looking at from the ! standpoint of military requirements. I The late Colonel Rogers who, in I the sixties, was sent down by the Indian Government to purchase remounts, prophesied, even then, that if breeders persisted in this haphazard policy, the time would come j when the market would be closed. This has virtually come to pass. We own any amount of weeds The only class stock that seems to be valued here is that of the race horse Here we find another reason why our serviceable and profitable breeds have become almost extinct. To develop a wire drawn two year old that can cut out a furlong or two in a little faster time than others, seems to be the desire of the modern breeder of these countries. Those who regard horse racing as tending to the improvement of the breed of horses have certainly very little proof to put forward as illustration of the theory. In the old days blood stock of course contributed to the formation of the splendid breed of horses New Zealand and Australia boasted of. But racing in old times was not conducted as at present. Endurance was not held secondary to speed. As the modern ship builder constructs a vessel to race across the ocean faster than competitors, but is careless of its capacity to last longer than a few years, so the modern breeder of race horses goes in for the "short life and merry one" policy. It is only necessary to observe how few first class race horses survive more than a season or two, to discover that as producers of general stock they cannot be relied upon. Thus it is, and for other reasons also that modern horse racing, so far from conducing to the improve- j ment of horses generally, has a deterrent effect. The "weed" is as often seen a successful competitor in a horse race as not. Trained to the I "last hair" he lives his brief hour of j triumph ; and them mayhap, broken and debilitated, he is utilised for stud purposes. Of course mares suf- j fer in like manner from the hot- i house education to which they are j subjected. How then can we say that horse I racing is calculated to improve the I breed of general stock. As matters j stand, it is the other way about. In the wretched animals we sometimes i see between the shafts of a buggy, or the knees of a suburban resident, ■ it is not difficult to discern traces of . blood stock origin. But one might j as well look for the British type of , manhood among the narrow should- ! i ered "tenth transmitters of a foolish face," who so often satirise their J "nobility" by their ignoble acts, as for the sturdy breed of blood, and bone, and moral quality also, am- | ong horses, in the product of broken down racers I If we would recover our old position, this matter must be met in a I practical way There should be mo • difficulty in rafridl.v improving our I horae stock. But us long as breed- !

ers are animated by a deeire for immediate profit only, and are content to part with their best mares, because of an exceptional price, we shall not progress in thw matter. It may oome to pas* in the remote future that these new countries may be called upon for special legislation in respect to horse breeding. Less important subjects have occupied the attention of our wise men. At anyrate in the superior quality of our Ntork of every kind resides one factor in the development oi future prosperity.